“What living at Alice Lloyd during my freshman year did for me cannot be understated. As an international student, Lloyd was my first taste of the university and perhaps this country. I cannot describe to you why I felt at home the first day I walked into Lloyd. Perhaps it was because I looked back, and I’d burned all boats going back home and I was stuck here, and I had to make this place home. But that wasn’t it. The sense of community at Lloyd was so powerful and palpable that my tensed-up shoulders relaxed, and my heart rate returned to normal figures instantly. The famous Midwestern hospitality that I had heard about, seemed to invite me into a group of people that encompass Lloyd whom I adore and simultaneously respect deeply. Whether it be the staff, professors, residential advisors, or my fellow dormmates, Lloyd gave us all a distinct identity rooted in core values (no, but really) that resulted in a commitment, to each other, to make this place better for each other.
‘As an artist,’ Lloyd helped me meet amazing people who I learned from whether that be in mandatory clubs or otherwise. It was at Lloyd that I understood the duality of a student artist and how to pull it off. You could be studying neuroscience and Opera at the same time (there was somebody actually doing that), in other words, you realize that there were no requirements for you to be somebody you weren’t. There is this popular image, that we all have of an artist in our mind and that of a college student and they don’t necessarily mesh. For many art is their passion, their true love and perhaps what they’re majoring in, whereas for others it’s an escape where we exhibit our passion for life. Lloyd fosters both of these versions of artists, and, more importantly, help both of these create better and learn more about what they’re doing.
The impact that Lloyd has had on me in just a year of living here is undeniable. I’m looking forward to returning for Alice Lloyd is now a part of me and will be for a very long time.” - Alok Abhilash
